THE UK Government will this week publish a series of detailed papers setting out aims for the Brexit talks, including one covering the thorny issue of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic after the UK has left the EU.
Ministers are likely to insist that a customs border will be installed between the north and south of the island, rebuffing the Irish Government, and that this will be a "light touch" border using technology and spot checks to police the flow off good between the two countries.
This is likely to irritate Irish premier Leo Varadkar who has called for Britain to consider staying in the EU customs union after Brexit with a new border in the Irish Sea to maintain free movement of goods and services.
A separate paper on a potential future customs arrangement with the EU will also be published this week.
Officials said the papers would show the Government was ready to "broaden out" the negotiations and move forward towards a deal that worked for both sides. However senior Whitehall sources say that they would not deviate from the principles set out by Theresa May in January when she declared that the UK would leave both the single market and the customs union.
The comes as Brexit Secretary David Davis prepares to embark on a third round of talks with the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels at the end of the month. Barnier is reported to have warned EU ambassadors the first two rounds had failed to produce sufficient clarity on the opening issues of the Irish border, the rights of EU citizens in the UK, and Britain's "divorce bill".
As well the issue of the Irish border, the first set of new position papers will also cover continued availability of goods for the EU and the UK, and confidentiality and access to official documents following the UK's withdrawal.
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